repairing wood soled plane

Picked up a transitional razee (sp?) plane on eBay for little $, but
the sole is split, top to bottom, fore of the mouth all the way to the
toe, where the makers mark says "B. PLANE PATENTED OCT 22, 1889".
Top of the cutter has some faint stamping I can't read yet. The plane
is just over 10" long, with wood under all the metal (making this a
#35, IIRC). The knob is missing some chunks at the base, but is
functional.
My question is: can I repair this split with glue and use the plane
with confidence, or do I have a paperweight? This is my first woodie
(so to speak).
Dan

I thought this sounded a little odd (that's a lot of work), until I
realised it's a transitional.
Just what's in the body of a transitional ? There's no iron clamping
slots or wedge to worry about, but how much work to make the mouth ?
If it's a carve-from-solid rather than a laminated body, then that's
not the easiest job around.
There's also the problem of finding timber to make the body. A
suitable block isn't an easy thing to get hold of either, suitably
sized and stable. I've made several of my small planes by cutting down
the bodies of old broken jointers. It's a good source for the right
source of timber, and it ought to be just about seasoned by now !
It's impossible to say best how to repair it without seeing the plane.
But I'd be wary of gluing that split. If it's a drying split, then it
split for a reason - that's the shape that piece of timber wants to
be. Go around clamping it back together and there's a risk you'll
have a convex sole afterwards. I'd probably stabilise it with a
crosswise dowel (if needed) and then either ignore the gap, or fill it
with a gap-filling adhesive (I use filled epoxies).

sorry if I made it sound like a trivial job. it is a fair bit of work,
and exacting careful work at that. however, if the body is beyond
repair it might be the best option.

I have a few chunks of decades old wood I'm saving for projects of
that sort....

you definitely don't want to apply clamping forces that will stress
the body. then you're pretty much back to where the blank was green-
full of stresses that have to work themselves out either by splitting
or warping, or both.

a filled epoxy would probably be a good approach, but I think a fitted
shim would look better....

I built a wood plane from a kit by Hock Tools. It has a sole plate made of a
3/16" thick piece of Goncolo Alves. That stuff is tough as nails and glides
nicely. Part of the kit assembly included glueing the sole plate to the body
parts with regular wood glue. I used Titebond II. I also had to drill two
dowel holes to keep the plate from sliding around while gluing it. These
were centered between the sides of the plane and located about 1" in from
the front and rear of the plane respectively. Afterward, you have to trim
the mouth and flatten the sole using sandpaper on a flat surface as well as
trim the edges to fit the body. The plane is 11" long.
I think this would make a good approach for repairing your plane. Besides,
it will end up looking prettier with the bright orange sole plate.
Bob

I have restored the mouth on a couple of woodies (not transitionals though)
by inlaying a block of purpleheart. I would think you could repair the
split, perhaps reinforce with a dowel, and then do the mouth repair.
Wachagotolose?
--
********
Bill Pounds
http://www.billpounds.com

So, what do you want when you're done? Do you want a restored, old
handplane, a visibly repaired user plane, or something else?
It's a little like the fellow that tells of having his great grandfather's
hammer, only he's had to replace the handle three times, and the head
twice.
Patriarch,
who's got one similar on the shelf. Came as a birthday present. Holds the
books beautifully. One coat of wax.

Not that a "restored, old handplane" is undesirable, but I do want to
use the thing. Can I fix the split with glue and have a user? I
don't think the plane is rare enough nor in such condition as to
qualify it being "collectable"--no ebony'n'ivory here <g>. To do the
repair will take a bit of work; all I want to know is will I have a
tool I can use when I'm done, or do these kind of repairs not work
well? I can't see why it wouldn't, but that is based on my
inexperience. Anyone on the rec had experience with such repairs? An
earlier suggestion about using a dowel made some sense. Any other
thoughts?
Dan

since I can't see the damage I can't really assess the situation. what
I can say is you are unlikely to make it worse.go ahead and try. what
I'd do first is disassemble it as far as possible. take all of the
metal parts off and get a good look at the wood parts. if necessary
you could make a replacement for the body, if the damage is too much
to fix. if you want to attempt a repair, remember that any parts you
glue to it have to fit well and the surfaces have to be clean. one
approach to fixing a crack is to run a saw kerf through the crach and
fit a slice of wood into the kerf.

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